The National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF) is calling on the Low Pay Commission and Government to take urgent action to protect jobs, apprenticeships and small high-street employers, as NHBF President Fiona Johnston prepares to give evidence in person to the Commissioners on 16th July 2026.
The NHBF supports fair pay but is warning that wage increases must be matched by practical support for the owners of labour-intensive businesses, like salons, expected to deliver those jobs.
The NHBF is calling for:
- A cautious, evidence-led approach to 2027 wage rates – ie the government looks at the statistics and what is happening in the sector before making any decision.
- Protection for separate youth and apprentice rates that reflect training, supervision and the cost of developing new talent, so that the employer is not expected to pay without receiving a return on investment.
- Targeted relief on employment costs for small and micro employers.
- Stronger apprenticeship incentives and support for businesses taking on trainees.
- Fairer business rates for high-street service businesses.
- A cut to VAT for labour-intensive personal care services.
- Stronger enforcement against non-compliance, tax evasion and unfair competition.
The NHBF said these measures are urgently needed because hair, beauty, barbering and aesthetics businesses are among the most exposed to minimum wage decisions.
The Low Pay Commission’s own 2025 report found that hair & beauty occupations had the highest minimum wage coverage rate of all listed occupation groups, at 43.3% in 2025, up from 39.9% in 2024.
The NHBF said this means wage policy has a direct and immediate impact on the sector’s ability to employ, train and invest.
Fiona Johnston, President of the National Hair & Beauty Federation, said:
“Our message to the Low Pay Commission and Government is clear: fair pay must come with fair support for the businesses expected to deliver it.
“Hair, beauty and barbering businesses want to employ staff, train apprentices and give young people a route into skilled work. But the cost of doing that is becoming harder and harder for small employers to absorb.
“That is why we are calling for practical action now. We need a cautious approach to future wage rises, protection for apprentice and youth rates, targeted employment cost relief, better apprenticeship support, fairer business rates and a cut to VAT for labour-intensive personal care services.
“Without that support, more businesses will be forced to increase prices, cut hours, reduce recruitment, take on fewer apprentices or step away from the employed model altogether. That would be bad for workers, bad for young people, bad for high streets and bad for the future of the sector.”
The NHBF’s evidence to the Commission shows a sector under sustained pressure.
NHBF’s February 2026 State of the Sector survey found that only 65% of respondents expected their business to survive the next six months without difficulty, 72.6% expected to raise prices in the next three months, and 73% said the November 2025 Budget had a major or moderate negative impact on their business.
The same survey found that the biggest cost pressures facing the sector were National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage increases, employer National Insurance Contributions and energy prices.
The NHBF said these pressures are already changing business behaviour, with many employers freezing recruitment, reducing hours, delaying investment, taking on fewer apprentices and considering downsizing, closure or moving away from the employed model.
The Commission needs to understand that wage increases do not land in isolation. They land alongside employer National Insurance, VAT, rent, business rates, energy bills, product costs, insurance and wider employment obligations.
- This is a people-based sector. Government rightly talks about getting more young people into work and training, but that will not happen if the small businesses that provide those opportunities are priced out of doing so.
- An apprentice is not just an extra pair of hands. Training takes time, supervision, mentoring and lost earning time from experienced staff. That cost is carried by small employers every day.
- If the system makes apprenticeships unaffordable, fewer young people will get the chance to enter our sector. The answer to youth inactivity cannot be to make entry-level employment and training less viable for the very businesses that provide those opportunities.
The NHBF will use Fiona Johnston’s evidence session to urge the Low Pay Commission to recognise the specific position of labour-intensive, high-street service businesses when considering its recommendations for 2027 rates.
The Federation is asking the Commission to recommend an April 2027 National Living Wage at, or very close to, the lower end of its current proposed range, avoid extending the National Living Wage to 20-year-olds in 2027, and keep the apprentice rate to a very modest increase.
The NHBF said fair pay must be delivered in a way that protects employment, training and the long-term viability of small high-street businesses.